Mega media agglomeration

Just when you though the mediascape in Canada couldn’t get any smaller, Bell Globemedia announced today it would be taking over CHUM, making it the largest media corporation in Canada, adding 33 radio stations, 12 local TV stations (including all the CityTV stations) and 21 specialty TV channels to the already massive BGM empire.

This story, by CP posted on the Toronto Star site, waits until the bottom before delivering the kicker: TorStar, owner of the Toronto Star, is set to be taking over 20% of BGM in the next few months as well (in a deal reached last year). This means that one company will include interested parties that control all of CTV, all of CityTV, a major chunk of radio stations in Canada, as well as both the Globe and Mail and the Toronto Star. Scared yet?

Both the takeover of CHUM and TorStar buying into BGM are still subject to regulatory approval. Maybe there’s something we can still do about this… More on this soon…